
Class BV^ aa^f. 

Book, <a 



Copyright]^", 



COPa'RIGHT DEPOSm 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 



I - K. % . 



THE LISTENER 
IN THE CHURCH 



BY 
A WORKINGMAN 



CHICAGO 

NEWFORD PUBLISHING CO. 

1914 



^^< 



Copyrighted by 

NEWFORD PUBLISHING CO. 

CHICAGO 

1914 



MAR -6 1914 

©CI.A362789 



CONTENTS. 

I. The Human Mind - - - - 9 

II. Results of Preaching - - - 23 

III. The Reasonable Service - - 35 

IV. The Sunday School - - - - 45 
V. The Listener's Duty - - - 58 

VI. Things Greater Than Words 69 

VII. Conclusion 76 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 
CHAPTER I. 

THE HUMAN MIND. 

The human mind, roughly speaking-, 
is like a vast picture gallery where 
pictures are hung- of what the individ- 
ual has seen, acted, learned, heard, 
and experienced. All of this is classified 
by his memory, has influenced his way of 
thinking, and developed his reason. When 
the listener comes into the presence of 
the speaker it is with the greeting, 
"My mental residence is at your disposal; 
enter and take possession." The speak- 
er's words, personality and character 
then proceed to hang up new pictures 
in the mind of the listener. The 
preacher is a worker and the listener's 
9 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

mind the material which he wishes to 
affect. He desires that he may suggest 
the higher life and create a desire to 
attain it. 

The listener also has come for the 
purpose of getting in contact with the 
higher life. If he had expected that 
irritation and uncongeniality awaited 
him, he would not have come. The aver- 
age listener has come from the cares 
and perplexities of life and work. God 
has so created the human mind that 
relaxation is necessary. After work 
and attention the mind craves ease and 
joy. 

With a few exceptions the average 
preacher has before him the same people 
at every meeting. But for these people, 
who come regularly, Sunday after Sun- 
day, year in and year out, he would have 
no congregation. The vast majority of 
these people need cheer and not scold- 
ing, need joy and not always the ascetic 
theology, need inspiration, and visions 
born of gladness, and not so much of the 
10 



THE HUMAN MIND 

coldness and stiffness which is acquired 
by sitting- down in an introspective mood. 
Beginning- very early in life, the human 
mind is constantly active. Every minute 
of the day the mind is engaged. With- 
out activity the mind can not develop, 
nor the individual feel at ease. En- 
forced inactivity, therefore, brings mental 
discomfort — a feeling as if you are alone 
in a strange land. Sometimes the 
speaker is the only one who enjoys 
the church service, because he being 
active is possessed with a feeling of well- 
being. There is not much benefit in the 
church service where the speaker does 
not grip the hearer's mind, where there 
is no reciprocity, where the listener's 
mind is inactive. Inactivity accomplishes 
nothing. Enforced mental inactivity 
produces feelings of aversion and dissat- 
isfaction. When a man joins an ordi- 
nary church and does not become active 
in any of its efforts, his only source of 
usefulness being in listening to sermons 
which the preacher has gotten up in his 
H 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

library — such a man soon loses interest, 
because there is no interest for his mind 
to g'rip. The g-ood speaker's success lies 
in his power to occupy the listener's mind 
in a pleasant, interesting" way. 

The mind is displeased with monot- 
ony. Many sermons sound like a mix- 
ture of some theological book and articles 
from some religious paper, embracing 
thoughts which one who is in the habit 
of attending- church has heard the sub- 
stance of hundred's of times before. And 
on one who is not in the habit of attend- 
ing* church a dry theological sermon 
produces only a feeling of disdain. I 
know a man who attended church service 
one Sunday, where the preacher was a 
fresh g-raduate from a theological semi- 
nary, his sermon lasting nearly two 
hours, and dull to the extreme. Could it 
be expected that this man, who is not a 
church member, should have a desire to 
attend church ag-ain the next Sunday? 
Twenty years have passed, and this man 
has never entered a church since. The 
12 



THK HUMAN MIND 

monotonous speaker sug-g-ests the at- 
mosphere of the barren desert; and men 
have no desire to go to a place on a 
brig-ht Sunday morning" to feel the effect 
of desolation and emptiness. The week's 
work in store or shop — the old routine — 
leaves a foggy dark coat on the mind of 
the average working- man. On the day 
of rest he does not want more monot- 
ony. The laws of his being require a 
man to seek mental sunshine in his rest- 
ing hour. 

There is too much sameness in the 
averag-e worker's life. Most people are 
compelled to do the same work over and 
over again, day in and day out. 
There is lack of newness. System 
and routine are the prevailing style of 
work. Commercialism cuts out a man's 
work for him to make him a spe- 
cialist, a machine. To many a worker 
life looks like a cold vice in which he is 
clamped. Under such conditions the 
mind grows morbid, and in its craving 
for variation and gladness, monotonous 
13 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

church services repel instead of attract. 

Ph^^sicians tell us that women bear 
monoton3^ better than men. With them 
the agfonies of ennui are not so soon 
developed and do not depress so heavily. 
This may be one reason w^hy women 
predominate at church services. 

New landscapes please the eye. New 
food g-ives zest to appetite. New inven- 
tions are as a message from a new 
country. The Bible is the most opti- 
mistic and cheerful book in the world, 
telling" about a new life, a new heaven, 
and a new earth. 

The mind is a king-dom where the in- 
dividual is czar, absolute. While listen- 
ing, the hearer examines the speaker's 
motives and weighs his statements. Or- 
dinarily the listener is willing to open 
his mind to the higher life, but he wishes 
to see it. Christianity can not be taught 
by words alone. Some preachers have 
about them an atmosphere of force; 
being "bookish" and dull, they con- 
stantly abuse their listener's patience, 
14 



THE HUMAN MIND 

and yet they want results; consequently 
they resort to force in the form of exhort- 
ing", commanding-, and scolding^. Coun- 
tries may be taken by force and people's 
whipped into submission by cannon and 
sabers. Not so the kingfdom of the mind. 
A preacher ceases to be a minister when 
he becomes a commander. 

The mind is hung-ry for thoug"hts 
superior, the individual taking into 
his character thing's of his choice, which 
seem to him the true. A desire to be 
like Christ is not forced into a man's 
mind. A preacher can not expect a 
response to his appeal after he has irri- 
tated his hearer. There are many 
preachers whose labors create but an 
atmosphere of rebellion. 

A man is not incited to imbibe hig-her 
thing's when he is commanded so to do. 
Desires are not hammered into a man's 
mind. Nobody likes to be bossed. No 
man is a Christian because it is his sad 
and solemn duty to be one, or because it 
was forced upon him. 
IS 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

The human mind is God-gfiven. The 
individual may live in wickedness, may 
spend his time in wrong- living", disbe- 
lieve in God, and yet at moments the 
godly qualities of truth, justice, love, 
purity and unselfishness may appeal to 
him contrary to his beliefs. A story is 
told of a hardened criminal in prison 
who refused to listen to preacher or any 
one talking religion, but one day when 
a little child with the stamp of God on 
her face came in and offered him a 
flower, he immediately surrendered his 
fortress of unbelief. This illustrates 
how minds are appealed to and won. 
People go to church to see and feel some- 
thing g-odly; to see something of the 
Christian spirit, to absorb something of 
the higher life. But if the sermon is a 
"discourse," an essay, or a flood of 
words about theology, it then burdens 
the listener instead of helping him. 

Being orderly, active, and self-govern- 
ing, the mind has an aim, which is: ease, 
well-being, and contentment. The child, 
16 



THE HXJMAl^ mini:) 

seeing- other children at play, noticing 
their happy faces, and hearing their 
merry laughter, becomes possessed 
with a desire to take part, and upon join- 
ing, his whole being, mental and phy- 
sical, is taken up with a feeling of well- 
being- and delight which comes from 
rational activity — activity which acts 
as a tonic to health and development. 
The youth, fascinated in his world of 
love, sees in his ideal something of the 
divine, hears in her voice a melody of 
more charm than has ever caught his 
ear before. Indeed, the road is short 
that leads to where his heart's hunger is 
satisfied. And thus through life our 
hearts direct our steps. Where pleas- 
antness and congeniality await us, to 
such places our desires are apt to take 
us. Many preachers make it hard for 
their hearers to love the church service. 
God has so created the human mind 
that it craves activity, hates monotony, 
and repels force — laws of the mind 
which the average preacher never seems 
17 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

to take into consideration. People stay 
away from churches because long", monot- 
onous sermons make listening: painful. 
No one has a desire to g"o to a place 
where his mind is irritated. The 
preacher has no right to make Christi- 
anity unattractive by dull, monotonous 
services. People listening- to a long, pe- 
dantic, literary sermon fail to see any 
Christianity in it — fail to see the char- 
acter of Christ represented by it, and go 
away from such a '^service" feeling that 
the time spent there adds to to the bur- 
den of life instead of easing the load. 

The secret of the good minister's suc- 
cess is in that he creates an atmosphere 
of enthusiasm and good fellowship. He 
surcharges the room with good feeling. 
The listener feels at home. He takes 
the listener with him and shows him the 
good things he has seen and felt. 

The leading current in the average 
individual's mind is a desire for happi- 
ness. The everyday life of the worker 
has its cares, and during his moments of 
18 



THK HUMAN MIND 

leisure he wishes for relaxation and pleas- 
antness. This is the state of a healthy 
mind; a desire for gfloom is unnatural 
and ung-odly and adds to the darkness 
of life. Instead the worker needs cheer 
to refresh his mind and make his mem- 
ory a g-ood companion for the hardship 
during the week. 

The average Christian goes to church 
because it is the only public place where 
he cares to go. Worldly amusements have 
no attractions for him. He goes to church 
because he likes to be there — to enjoy the 
pleasures of fellowship, service, and sac- 
rifice — to get inspiration from song* and 
sermon — to take into his mind thoughts 
from above. Not that the church is his 
only source of inspiration, but it is nat- 
ural that people crave to get away from 
their homes and meet other people; and 
he has found that Christian people are 
the best people on earth. , 

There may be a few people in the 
evangelical churches who seek their joy 
in worldly amusements. The church to 
19 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

them is a department of relig-ion — some- 
thing" to be endured but not enjoyed. 
A g*reat many preachers also attend the- 
aters, and kindred worldly amusements, 
and spending" their week days in leisure, 
and then at church meeting-s they hold 
forth in sad, phlegmatic tones, scolding 
their listeners. Such preachers have 
their sadness in the Lord and their joy 
in the world. There is not enough joy 
in the world. The church should not be 
a sad house. The angel of the annunci- 
ation cried, ''Behold, I bring you good 
tidings of great joy." The inaugural 
miracle of Jesus was wrought at a wed- 
ding to enhance its innocent joy. And 
in his parting words to his disciples he 
said: "These things have I spoken unto 
you, that my joy might remain in you 
and that your joy might be full." God 
has so created the human mind that it 
needs joy. Christianity should help 
make life easier, not harder, should help 
make life brighter, not darker, happier 
and not sadder. 

20 



THE HUMAN MIND 

Sunday is the only day the worker 
has to react from the irritation and 
hardship of the week's work. His mind 
demands pleasantness in order that he 
may preserve mental health; the God 
whom we worship has so created the 
human mind that joy is necessary to 
health and well-beingf. It is lawful to 
do good on the Sabbath day. It is godly 
to put cheer into human minds. It is 
ung-odlv to preach, if preaching- darkens 
the mind and oppresses the wayfaring 
worker. The church in its services 
should practice the one-hundreth psalm. 
It is no sin to seek joy. To seek un- 
selfish happiness and add to the happi- 
ness of other people is the desire of 
every well-developed individual. The 
average worker meets with much to 
darken his mind during the week, and 
he is not looking for more on Sunday. 
People are not in need of lectures. The 
preacher will always say that the 
church is a place for worship. Here 
is where people come to adore the Deity 
21 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

and to meditate on their shortcomings. 
But the averag-e Christian preaches bet- 
ter fitting sermons to himself than any 
minister can; and God does not want to 
be adored like a heathen idol. The time 
now is that the true worshipper will 
honor God with his thoughts, actions and 
work. There is something wrong with 
a joyless religion and its professor. The 
true lover is not sad, and he who is in 
love with God — the source of unselfish 
love and goodness — cannot be sad. 

There is too much unnecessary sad- 
ness among Christian people. It is a 
part of the work of the church to make 
for happiness. The church should be a 
haven of good cheer and joy. It is en- 
tirely unfitting that Christian people, 
redeemed, from sin, companions of God, 
on their way to a place of unmixed joy, 
should spend Sunday morning in sad, 
solemn worship. For the fruit of the 
spirit is love, peace, joy, and goodness. 



22 



CHAPTER IL 

RESULTS OF PREACHING. 

From the preacher's point of view church 
meeting's are very interesting and help- 
ful. Being- active, he enjoys it, as activity 
produces a feeling- of well-being. Most 
people consider it a pleasure to speak, 
and the average preacher would sooner 
preach a long sermon than a short one. 
When a man is engaged in a pleasant 
activity, time flies quickly; and the 
preacher may talk for hours and the 
time seem only a few minutes to him. 
He enjoys preaching as a child enjoys 
playing or as some people enjoy to talk; 
he enjoys it whether his congregation 
enjoys it or not. It gives him the activity 
he needs, and satisfies him. The average 
23 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

preacher would preach much longer if 
his congregfation would allow it. Coming' 
from his books, where he has selected 
some ideas appealing to his mind, and 
oftenest a pedantic, literary effort, 
commonplace and monotonous, and the 
preacher having the belief that it is 
some ecclestiastic yeast. The congre- 
gation often regards it as a fog, heavy and 
chill, and the closing part the happy and 
smiling sun. One result of preaching is 
to deceive the preacher. Church meet- 
ings devoid of activity and happiness, 
consisting only of bookish sermons, are 
not of much use in a live world. 

The average preacher always claims 
that the lack of success of the church, 
the reason that so few people join it, 
is because the members do not pray 
enough; the burden of souls do not lay 
heavy enough on their minds; they lack 
in spirituality. And so he urges the 
members to bring in their friends and 
acquaintances, for, says he, there is no 
inspiration in empty chairs; unless the 
24 



RESULTS OF PREACHING 

seats are filled a preacher cannot do 
his best. When this is partly accom- 
plished, the result is a sermon long^er 
and duller than before, a ''service" 
more dismal than ever. 

When a church member lives a true, 
consistent Christian life, and takes part 
in the activities of the church, and has 
devotions at his family altar, and is 
anxious for the salvation of those v^ith 
w^hom he comes in contact, then he is 
doing" all that can reasonbly be expected. 
Such companies of christians are gener- 
ally found in every evangelical church 
and while they do not constitute the 
whole cong-reg-ation, they are the ones 
who are always present at the meeting^s 
and on whom the burdens and respon- 
sibilities rest. 

In many a community where there are 
thousands of men, one may find a dozen 
in the averag-e evangelical church on 
Sunday morning" and the preacher will 
blame them for not bringing their men 
friends with them. If such a preacher 
25 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

should rise early on Monday morning-, 
and go to work in a shop as a common 
working" man, and work regularly for 
some years, and put himself into the 
mental attitude of one who has no 
brighter prospect before him; then, 
after being shut in between walls during: 
six days, and upon g-etting out in the 
open air on the day of freedom, the 
sky would seem more blue than ever 
before, nature would have charms 
which he had not noticed before, and 
and as he g-oes to church, not to preach, 
but to listen to something* about the- 
ology or about the Israelites, our 
preacher in the g"uise of a working man, 
after doing this patiently and regularly 
for some years, perhaps would get 
tired of it. After working- together 
day in and day out with an open heart 
to their needs and struggles, the 
preacher mig-ht come to the conclusion 
that it would be un-Christlike and use- 
less to treat the workman to a pedantic 
sermon. He would realize that such a 
26 



RESULTS OF PREACHING 

man would be impressed by thoughts 
true to life, not something* out of books. 
In the preparation of such a sermon 
the minister would get suggestions and 
inspiration from real life and he would 
speak as friend to friend. 

Much of the preaching in the average 
church makes Christianity repulsive. 
The average pastor seems to think 
that the progress of the church depends 
on preaching only; therefore he crowds 
his sermons with literary matter, with 
the result that during its delivery 
some of the worshipers read the hymn- 
book, the younger members manage to 
keep up a whispering conversation, 
and many members are absent, knowing 
they thus escape misery. Delivering 
long, formal, bookish sermons is out 
of harmony with the spirit of the 
the gospel. 

Ways and means could easilj'^ be put 

to work so that the congregation could 

have a more active part in the service, 

especially in smaller churches, where 

27 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

the few people and a bare, barn-like meet- 
ing house repulses the inactive hearer. 
This includes nearly all the city churches. 
Instead of reading a long chapter from 
the Bible and expounding" it before deliv- 
ering- the sermon, the preacher could ask 
the members for short scripture passages 
v^hich have come to their minds during 
the w^eek and encouraged their faith and 
hope. Instead of having the lushers 
take up the collection, let the congre- 
gation w^alk up and drop their contribu- 
tion by the pulpit, or let the minister 
and congregation offer up a short prayer 
in unison, thanking God for his goodness 
during the past v^eek — or hundred other 
innovations to destroy monotony. When 
a preacher persists in going through the 
same old routine, year in and year out, 
he works contrary to the spirit and law 
of progress. The merchant, the manu- 
facturer, the builder and the worker 
everywhere must improve with new 
ideas, new methods, new life, or they 
will not meet with success; and there 
28 



RESULTS OF PRE ACHING 

are certainly better ways to win or 
attract people to the church than those 
in use at present which are excellent for 
alienating people from the church. 
People are impressed and attracted 
where there is life and action, and re- 
pulsed where there is stagnation and 
monotony. There is too much sedate- 
ness, too much unnatural inactivity, on 
the part of the listeners. 

As to the sermon: the preacher should 
tell more about what he has heard and 
and seen and less about what he has 
read in books; tell about the person 
whom he met during the week, whom 
he tried to lead to Christ, or prayed 
with, perhaps. Pure religion is to visit 
the fatherless and afflicted, and the 
minister who does this will incite 
others to do likewise. 

Preaching should instil joy, incite to 
godliness and kindness, help build up 
Christian character and build up the 
church, and inspire and encourage the 
listeners to good works. 
29 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

Because he is out of touch with 
common people and practical Christian 
work, the average preacher is in- 
effective. A life of ease, reading books 
and papers, away from people, is not 
a progressive life and will prevent the 
preacher from being useful and get- 
ting a grip on things for good. 

Sometimes preachers and church 
workers waste words and efforts trying 
to close up dance-halls and kindred 
places in church neighborhoods. In- 
stead of such misdirected efforts they 
ought to learn a lesson from the success 
of such institutions. They are feeling 
good there; action and good humor 
and freedom prevail. They are not 
required to sit down in a seat motionless 
and have their minds irritated and 
abused. New converts are often alien- 
ated from the church at the very begin- 
ning of their Christian career because 
they find church life so uninteresting and 
lifeless and unnatural — devoid of what 
their mental and physical life craves. 
30 



RESULTS OF PREACHING 

If the preacher wishes the church ser- 
vices to instil more Christ-likeness, 
more enthusiasm, more love for thing's 
godly, then he should use methods 
which will help produce such results. 
Preaching: and talk alone will never pro- 
duce it; neither will scolding- and com- 
manding- help. Many of the members 
under his charge pray for him daily, 
work hard to pay his salary, and do 
what they can heartily to reach those 
outside the fold. But the preacher 
never suggests anything- on how to make 
the church more effective. He complains 
and chides because the members do not 
bring in more people to listen to him, 
and in the nature of things it is im- 
possible for many a preacher to have a 
larger congregation than he has. He is 
not able to irritate more people. No- 
body can be found in the community 
who has the patience to endure the 
church meetings. 

Most pastors get into the habit of 
preaching in an unnatural and often a 
31 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

boisterous voice, and throug-h the whole 
service there is nothing* which suggests 
pleasantness or cheer. God taught the 
birds to sing and the brook to make 
music as it flows. Neither was it man 
who told the colt to play in the meadow, 
and the lambs to make their antics on 
the hills. God scattered smiling flowers 
all over the earth and sends sunbeams 
to caress our cheeks. Pleasantness is 
not something of no importance. It is 
the sunshine of the mind and necessary 
to health and well-being. Deprived of it 
the mind may be ruined. Christian 
people should be pleasant people and the 
church services should incite to this. 
There are people going- away from 
church services with a bitter feeling: in 
their minds. With a hatred for the 
preaching-house. There was enough of 
ennui and dulness, but nothing to giye 
gladness or to suggest a foretaste of the 
joy to come. Once more in God's open, 
the listener feels glad, as if he had 
emerg-ed from a humid underground. 
32 



When God made nature he made it bene- 
ficial and pleasant, but when man builds 
a church he makes it dark and jail-like. 
Many a cong-reg-ation puts up a costly, 
cold buildings, mortgages it, and scolds 
and begs for more money, and has use 
for one-fourth of the seats only, while 
it ought to have bought fewer stones, 
and taken possession of more of God's 
earth and planted a garden where 
flowers might grow and children play 
on the green, and where on pleasant 
Sundays in summer the people might 
sing and the preacher tell the eternal 
truths. Or where on hot summer eve- 
nings a tent could be put up, where people 
would feel comfortable, and thus make 
it easier for outsiders, who seldom enter 
churches. To men who labor in black 
foundries and women compelled to 
hustle in sweat shops and youths work- 
ing nervously in ofl&ces and stores, the 
invitation, ''Come thou with us and we 
will do thee good," does not sound true, 
coming from the average church. 
33 



THK LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

The revivalist may be the means of 
winning- hundreds, but it is f6r the 
local church by its w^ork to retain these 
converts. The meeting's on the com- 
mon Sunday and the church's pro- 
gramme during- the week, are of the 
greatest importance, and the minister 
who can put new life and originality into 
this neglected field and maintain a 
healthy interest and growth is doing a 
far greater work than the revivalist. 

Our present standards of work is not 
advancing. Most preachers insist upon 
using archaic methods and neglect the 
opportunity to inspire and encourage the 
listener to more usefulness. There are 
enough thoughts and efforts wasted 
every day to turn the world into a para- 
dise. 



34 



CHAPTER III. 

THE REASONABLE SERVICE. 

It is work that has made civilization — 
work coupled with thinking has made 
living" more comfortable and life more 
pleasant. Work has a healthful effect on 
the mind, in that it develops reason and 
sanity and gives clearness to thinking. 
Work makes for progress, well-being 
and optimism. There is something in 
work that gives health to the mind and 
body, and there is something in idleness 
that has a degenerating effect, in that 
it befogs thinking, dulls the reason and 
leads to melancholy. Most preachers 
get into an unnatural way of living by 
avoiding effort and work, which makes 
them unreasonable in their methods 
35 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

and ineffective. Christ did not tell his 
disciples to go out in all the world and 
read books and lead inactive lives, but to 
go to every creature with the gospel. 
If human beings are worth anything, it 
ought to be worth the minister's while 
to go and make an effort to influence 
people during the common weekday. 
Christ walked a long way in order that 
he might speak to some person of the 
lowest class. A man with an immortal 
soul ought to be worth an effort for the 
higher life, ought to be worth a kind 
word in Christ's name. Thoughtful 
work and enterprise are necessary In 
order to accomplish anything. To im- 
prove a machine, or make an invention 
that will make labor easier or living 
more comfortable may well be worth a 
man's arduous endeavor. To affect the 
human mind for good, to plant in it a 
seed of inspiration, to affect it so it will 
desire the highest life, the christian life 
may well be considered the most impor- 
tant work in the world. 
36 



THK REASONABLE SERVICE 

Often rigfht in the preacher's neigh- 
borhood live people wrapped in sin — 
men, slaves to liquor, gambling: or 
other habits; homes where happiness 
is unknown; youths reckless on the 
downward path. But the preacher is 
often a stranger to real conditions. On 
the avenue, thick with saloons, where 
men congregate and carouse, someone is 
sick of sin. Many a member of his con- 
gregation would be glad to go with the 
minister, trying to win a man for the 
better life. 

The community might be divided into 
districts, the members go two and two 
trying to reach each household. This 
does not mean that results always 
will be certain. Man can but sow and 
God give the increase; and sometimes a 
Christian will make a call and a neigh- 
bor or stranger in the house will be in- 
fluenced. Neither should such efforts 
be done with the direct purpose of gain- 
ing members for the church. Where 
a church and its minister put forth 
37 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

earnest and sincere efforts in a Christ- 
like, cheerful way, there will always be 
some results. Godliness, unselfish love 
and devotion to righteousness will always 
impress. Ungodly people know they 
are wrong. 

There is life in work and death in 
idleness. The preacher who will im- 
press people with life must mix with 
humanity. There can be no progress 
without work. There is a spirit of stag- 
nation and doubt in the church where 
no effort is made to reach the outsider. 
Working people are always quick to 
say that preachers want to live soft lives 
at the expense of the toiler. In cities one 
may find the preacher during the week 
spending his time in the park, playing' 
games of tennis, croquet and the like, or 
in his home on the sofa, while the mem- 
bers of his church toil in the heat of the 
day, long hours, to pay the preacher's 
salary and he then scold them on Sunday. 
When working people labor every day in 
the week they crave rest and relaxation 
38 



THE REASONABLE SERVICE 

in their spare time. Too many preachers 
call their two sermons on Sunday, work. 
To g'et up before a cong-reg-ation and re- 
peat something- read in books is not 
work. 

Christ was a worker. He learned a 
trade. He went to meet people at their 
daily work. But nowadays a preacher 
cannot try to influence people unless he 
gets on his clercial g-arb and g-ets into the 
pulpit. 

The averagfe preacher is ineffective 
because the hearers feel that he is for- 
eign to them — does not know their daily 
life and their strug-g-les. Sermons devoid 
of human interest, with no sug-g-estions 
to useful action, have no influence on live 
people. He who does not work gfenerally 
becomes unsympathetic, unreasonable, 
impractical and gloomy; his soul and 
mind losing the healthy vision. 

People are influenced by what they 

admire, and people will always admire 

honesty and sincerity. The minister 

who has been earnestly at work during 

39 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

the week, trying: to win a soul for Christ, 
or has labored to make the church more 
useful, will make afar deeper impression 
on his hearers than he who has spent 
his time in readingf. 

In the public libraries one may find 
tramps reading- the latest magazines, and 
they remain tramps. In the church-study 
the preacher reads, while the church 
g-oes backward. The effective minister 
is never a book-lover, but a lover of hu- 
manity. 

The listener can always easily notice 
whether the preacher is a worker. 
Thing's look dark to the idler. The in- 
active preacher believes that Christianity 
is fast disappearing: from the earth. He 
is in doubt about the church under his 
charg-e and is considering* to leave before 
it g-ets "run down" too much. His mind 
is in harmony with his body. Idleness 
breeds conceit. Some preachers con- 
sider themselves hard workers because 
they talk very rapid when they preach, 
and sometimes even perspire; or that 
40 



THE REASONABLE SERVICE 

they make a hundred calls during the 
year. They like to talk about the '*Christ- 
less age," and *'that there shall be a fall- 
ing away." Their sermons are morose 
and gloomy, and they complain that they 
do not get sympathy and support. 

There is satisfaction in good work. 
He who performs it will be respected 
and esteemed, but he cares not for that, 
he does not work for that purpose. The 
beggar for sympathy, like other beggars, 
is not a worker. 

The worker is always hopeful. He 
knows that honest work cannot fail. 
Where the idler sees only dark despair 
the worker sees the light of opportunity. 
Work is perplexing and annoying, but it 
is necessary. Improvements in machines 
and methods are made by workers. He 
who does not work sees no need of im- 
provements. We can only learn by serv- 
ing. Edison became a servant of elec- 
tricity and wrought wonders. The real 
useful people in the church are those 
who will gladly do the humble, inauspi- 
41 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

cious work, such as teaching the most 
insignificant class in the Bible school, 
and do it faithfully and earnestly, or help 
wherever they are needed. For he 
who would do any uplifting must get un- 
derneath. Those who are anxious to 
hold of&ce, and direct and rule, who want 
to gratify personal ambition and selfish- 
ness, the baser desires of the mind are 
not of much help. 

No business enterprise could exist for 
one month on the principles on which the 
average preacher expects the church 
under his charge to prosper. He wastes 
too much valuable time and expects the 
miraculous to happen. Making an effort 
now and then and not seeing immediate 
results, he stops. Business firms do not 
give up that way. A salesman does not 
sell to everyone he calls upon. A mail- 
order business knows that only a per- 
centage of catalogs brings orders. But 
they do business by keeping everlast- 
ingly at it, every day, and by putting 
new life and new improvements into 
42 



THE REASONABLE SERVICE 

their work and methods, benefiting- their 
customers and keeping: things moving. 

Instead of attending the ministers 
meeting on Monday, where they come to 
listen to something of no consequence, 
and then idle around in book stores in 
the afternoon, they should start in at 
actual work, either in getting in per- 
sonal contact with those leading ungodly 
lives, or making the church's work more 
effective and far reaching. A multitude 
of features could be put to work which 
would accomplish results. 

Work coupled with sincerity and g-od- 
liness cannot fail. There is no formulary 
plan that will work without being coupled 
with personal enthusiasm and a little 
orig-inality. 

The preacher who is in love with his 
work, and is anxious to help someone to 
the hig"her life — would rather do this 
than anything: else — will find a way to 
reach people. One of the most success- 
ful ministers in Chicago had a way of 
hailing a teamster in the street, and g-et 
43 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

on the wagfon and have a talk as they 
drove along. It is of more importance to 
influence a sing^le individual than to read 
books or attend conventions. By v^rork- 
ing- with people a man gets insight and 
sympathy. A bookish preacher's ser- 
mons are like cast iron seeds planted in 
the soil. One reason w^hy men dp not 
attend church is because pedantic ser- 
mons are not w^orth listening to. 

According to God's lav^s many a church 
ought not make any progress; for no- 
vvrhere in this v^orld can a man get results 
without effort. Some actual time, every 
day, should be used by the i)reacher in 
getting in touch with someone who is not 
a Christian. How to work in a natural, 
godly way is the one thing above all the 
student ought to learn in the theological 
seminary. Every church would grow if 
the preacher would work. But if a min- 
ister will not use any of his time to get 
in contact with unconverted people, 
he ought to go to work in shop or field; 
for reading a little, delivering a sermon or 
44 



THE REASONABLE SERVICE 

two on Sunday, taking" a long- vacation, 
and seek ease are things of no value. 
Some preachers have peculiar ideas about 
work. I haye known some who think 
that labor is a disgrace. Other preach- 
ers have an idea that if they went to 
work, it would be sensational. Only the 
other day I heard a preacher in his pray- 
er thank God for a life of ease. God cre- 
ated man for work. For that reason he 
was given muscles, brains and limbs; 
and inan cannot be sound, mentally and 
physically unless mind and muscles are 
exercised by work. 

Neither can the church be healthy and 
grow unless reasonable work is done. 
Both minister and members ought to re- 
alize this. Besides meetings of inspira- 
tion and uplift systematic work as much 
as possible is necessary. Some evening 
might be used as a "working evening" 
when members would go out to per- 
sonal work. 

For God does not let the miracleous 
happen in church work any more than 
45 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

in agfriculture or business. If the farmer 
should spend his time in prayer and 
neglect to plow, sow and harrow, his 
praying- would be blasphemy. But there 
are preachers who believe that reading 
and idling" are sufficient to bring* the 
church to success. It can not be expected 
that working- people should be enthusi- 
astic in supporting- a church by their 
hard earned money when the preacher 
spends his time in inactivity. 

A minister needs preparation so that 
he may be fit to sit beside the sick-bed 
of him who needs spiritual aid. But the 
average preacher has only a few such 
cases during the year. He needs time for 
devotion so that his spiritual life may 
g-row. But if he does not work and has 
never any hardships, his preaching will 
not influence working- people. Such a 
preacher rather creates a gulf between 
the listener and himself. Filled with a 
week's accumulated energ-y, he preaches 
to his people, wishing- to arouse them. 
He feels that there is something- wrong. 
46 



THE REASONABLE SERVICE 

Somebody has not been doing- his duty. 
His sermon is full of denunciation and 
irritation. He complains that they are 
only playingf at religion. 

The listener, coming- from labor and 
hardship, is tired mentally and physically; 
perplexed, perhaps with problems of life 
and work His mind revolts at irritation. 
The averag-e listener is not a hypocrite; 
and his life is an endeavor to do the best 
he can. If the church service throws a 
lig-ht upon his road that shows him a 
brigfhter life, he will appreciate it. 

The minister who works earnestly and 
sincerely does not feel like denouncing 
working- people on Sunday. One of the 
qualities of manhood is that a man loves 
work; his mind being- open to truth 
and prog-re ss which open up avenues to 
improvement and betterment. 

If the minister would work rational 
and with half as much energ-y as the 
averag-e workingman, and actually put 
a certain few hours each day at actual 
work, the churches would succeed where 
47 



TnK LISTIKITER m THE CHURCH 

they now make no progress. It is the 
steady, conscientious work, every day. 
which counts. Preaching: is not hard 
work, because all preachers dislike to 
preach short sermons. One of the most 
sickening: things is to see a preacher who 
will advocate that a church be closed 
and a field abandoned rather than work 
for it. A church can succeed anywhere 
if the right and true kind of work is 
done. A preacher should be honest 
enougfh to work for the church that pays 
his salary. A life without work is a 
worthless life. God's law is: no efforts, 
no results. Efforts or work done by a 
rational Christian worker is never a total 
failure. The more efforts and work the 
church puts forth the more it will 
succeed. 



48 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. 

The average evang-elical church receives 
its life stream from the Sunday-school 
in that eighty or ninety per cent of new 
members joining the church come from 
the Sunday-school. This is only a repe- 
tition of a well-known fact, familiar to 
everyone intimate with church work. 
Those joining the church in their youth 
generally become the most faithful and 
efficient members, making them the salt 
of the earth. 

That children and youths become con- 
verted more readily than older people 
seem a most pleasant fact. A church 
filled with young people ought to be a 
place of the highest inspiration. Young 
49 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

people, more fresh from God and less in- 
fluenced by wrong'-doing than older 
people, are certainly the greatest force in 
the church. Another encourag'ing fact 
in the Sunday-school is that often the 
most regular attendants there are child- 
ren whose parents have no church con- 
nections. 

The Sunday-school, then, being- of first 
importance, it is hard to understand why 
its work and possibilities are often ignored 
by the minister,who frequently knows less 
about it than the humblest teacher there. 
There can be no easier and more nat- 
ural way in reaching parents than 
through their children. And there is 
no better way in gettuig in touch with 
life and the spirit of the age than to know 
young* people. 

It would be well if the minister's train- 
ing could include practical work in the 
Sunday-school, teaching a class of boys 
for a length of time in order that he 
might learn to see the Sunday-school 
from a boy's point of view. A preacher 
SO 



t) 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

should not work from the top down, but 
from the bottom up. There is not much 
to learn at the top. 

The dominant note of the excercises 
directed from the platform in the aver- 
ag-e Sunday-school is too often one of 
scolding- and irritating-. During- the 
sing-ing- the children are chided between 
each stanza, either because they do not 
sing- heartily, do not smile, or other like 
shortcoming-s and thus the leader creates 
an atmosphere of ug-liness, jarring- and 
abusing the minds of the children. Too 
often there is an absence of the Christ- 
like spirit for which the school is org-an- 
ized. That some children g-et up early 
in the morning, often walking a long dist- 
ance in order to attend the school, and 
are sometimes jeered by their com- 
panions for doing so, ought to be an in- 
spiration to any Christian worker and 
make him anxious that the children 
should feel something of the godly atmos- 
phere and not go away with a picture in 
their minds of something ugly and dis- 
51 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

pleasing". Most children like to sing, but 
not when they are irritated between each 
stanza of a song-, 

As to teaching-, many teachers are too 
fluent in language, and preach instead of 
teach with the result that a class is often 
doing: other things instead of listening-. 
Too few teachers aim to stimulate the 
scholars to activity. The class that feels 
that the teacher has some of the sacrific- 
ing, unselfish spirit of the Master, is 
g-enerally faithful to the school year in 
and year out. 

As the preacher cries for more hearers 
so does the superintendent at the closing 
exercises beg for more scholars. ''Did 
anyone bring- a new scholar to-day? Re- 
member the prize you get for every new 
scholar you bring-." Thus he continually 
urges, that the school may grow larger. 
To make the exercises more worthy, 
more cheerful, helpful and reverent, 
never seems to occur to him. He is like 
a storekeeper with unsalable g-oods cry- 
ing: for customers. 

52 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

The children are ag-ain urg-ed to attend 
the church service. But the morning- 
church service is a sad, solemn occasion, 
with a g-raveyard atmosphere and pe- 
dantic preaching, and not an expression 
of the joy and cheer of the Christian life. 
And, after attending Sunday-school for 
an hour or tw^o, and during" the w^eek 
been enclosed w^ithin store or shop, the 
big bo3s vv^ith his ideas of truth and g-ood- 
ness, cannot understand w^hy he should 
spend half the Sunday w^ithin dark w^alls 
listening to something- about the Israel- 
ites. God gave him a nature with a crav- 
ing for life and action, and the church 
offers lethargy and gloom. His growing 
mind craves joyousness and cheer; but 
the evangelical preacher denounces all 
worldly amusements, dancing-, theater, 
and the like. Did God make a mistake 
when he created the adolescent mind 
with a hunger for g-ladness and activity? 
Only the other day I heard a preacher, 
with some renown as a revivalist, in 
speaking to a Sunday-school, say: ''Young 
53 ■ 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

people, I want to impress on your minds 
the fact that it is your duty to attend all 
the services of the church, and pay rev- 
erent attention to the pastor when he 
preaches. For any one of you to show 
listlessness during* the sermon is very 
discourteous and is a sin. If the pastor 
should preach for six hours and any one 
of you show impatience, you would be 
g-uilty of disrespect for the house of God, 
and your conduct would be very wrongs." 
Such statements by a g-raduate of a 
theological seminary, and a D. D. go to 
show what heights of delusions a ''divine" 
can reach. But this describes the mind 
of the average preacher. The children 
and youths in the Sunday-school do not 
relish preachments foreign to life, and 
therefore, they are wicked. 

Relig"ious instruction is necessary in 
order for anyone to become a Christian, 
and for youths to attain the hig-hest type 
of manhood and womanhood the Chris- 
tian life is needed. But preacher and 
teacher ought to realize that no young 
54 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

person will hurry in g-lad anticipation to 
a place where inactivity and dullness 
awaits him. Many a youth has to work 
hard during: the week, sometimes under 
sordid conditions; the long: hours pass- 
ing- wearily. But in his mental world 
there is a star shining:: on Sunday, when 
the week's hardship is over, there is a 
circle of friends, of which he is a part, 
where freedom and happiness abound, 
where he will enjoy life for a moment. 

While too much ease and pleasure and 
too little work often is ruinous to char- 
acter;, on the other hand parents may 
commit a crime ag:ainst their children by 
shutting- out all joy. There are many 
homes which are far from what they 
ought to be, where children are compelled 
to grow up under a cloud of mental stress 
or compelled to work long hours, all of 
which gives a dark tint to life. 

The boy may keep on attending the 

Sunday-school until his sixteenth year, 

but at this age the dullnessof the church 

repulses him. He joins a ball team, an 

55 



THE LISTENER EST THE CHURCH 

athletic club, becomes a dancer or any- 
thing- that will keep him active. A revolu- 
tion is taking place in his mind as it 
begins to grow into manhood, and he 
craves association and action. 

The inability of the talkative preacher 
and teacher to realize the position of the 
inactive listener is the cause of most un- 
successful church efforts. 

However, the Sunday-school is made 
possible because of the faithful teachers, 
who g-ive out of their unselfish love, have 
found a way to interest the scholars, so 
that they come regularly, year in and 
year out. » 

Many a preacher makes a mistake by 
not interesting- himself in the efforts of 
the Sunday-school. A few simple things 
every minister could do, such as have 
the names and addresses of scholars and 
their parents and pray for and visit 
them, or other efforts to make the work 
of the school more effective. 

Those who wish to help the bible-school 
to be more effective must do so along the, 
56 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

lines of God's laws that govern the human 
mind. 

Most youths leave the public school in 
their fifteenth year and then often fol- 
lows a period of intellectual and spiritual 
darkness. But more or less the average 
youth has also a hunger after truth and 
right and where the church and Sunday- 
school does earnest work they often 
attract and hold the best youths in the 
community. 



57 



CHAPTER V. 

THE listener's DUTY. 

Most preachers lay great stress on duty, 
stating- that it is a man's duty to help 
sustain public worship as the church is 
beneficial to the community, and some 
even go so far as to say that people ought 
to be taxed to support a church. They 
might as well argue that people who re- 
fuse to support good newspapers and 
good grocery stores ought to be taxed. 
As the chief ofl&cer of the church, the 
preacher exhorts his listeners to be active 
in Christian work, to teach a class in the 
Sunday-school, but he does not teach a 
class there himself, nor does he try to 
influence any youths away from down- 
ward path in his own neighborhood. 
58 



THK listener's DUTY 

He exhorts his listeners to bring their 
unconverted friends to the meetings, yet 
for years he may not bring a single one 
himself. 

He commands his hearers to read the 
Bible, yet his whole sermon is devoid of 
scripture, leaving the impression that he 
has not meditated on a single passage 
during the week. 

He denounces his listeners for robbing 
God. They are not paying enough into 
the church treasury; yet he idles his time 
away during the week, not trying to win 
a single soul for the kingdom, or in any 
way to make the church services more 
attractive and winsome. 

There comes a time to the average 
preacher when he decides that his cong- 
regation needs a special stirring up. He 
reasons after this fashion: The church 
is not making any progress and the mem- 
bers are entirely to blame. They do not 
do their duty, are not as earnest and 
godly as they ought to be, do not listen 
to my sermons as they should. This is 
59 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

the truth, and I am going to preach the 
truth; and then on Sunday follows a ser- 
mon denouncing and scolding the mem- 
bers which only serves to irritate them. 
The membership in every church 
is made up of some who gladly do all 
they can, and others who are not as 
active and earnest. Not any in these two 
classes are inspired or made enthusiastic 
by having their minds harrowed; but 
some are made colder and discouraged 
by it. It is not a man's duty to go and 
have his mind irritated and harrassed; 
rather, the average sane man generally 
avoids all the misery he can. 

Much that is childish has been said 
about leadership. ''The church should 
move like an army, every member obey- 
ing the commands of the leader in front," 
said an egotistical preacher in his ser- 
mon the other day. This is in harmony 
with what is taught in theological schools 
and clerical literature, which emphasize 
that a preacher is to be a leader of men, 
and that people are waiting for a leader. 
60 



THE LISTENER'S DUTY 

As Washing-ton Gladden says: ''We 
have churches which profess democracy, 
but there is reason to fear that many of 
them are little better than oligarchies, 
some of them come near being monarch- 
ies." Where the spirit of the Lord is, 
there is liberty and not bossism. To the 
average man a church is alw^ays repulsive 
where he is made to feel that they want 
to command him, want to make him a 
follower, to walk behind a leader. A de- 
sire to command does not make a man a 
leader. The more a preacher is intei-- 
ested in himself, the less he will be able 
to arouse interest in the cause he repre- 
sents. He, with the spirit of the lowly 
Nazarene, will be a leader, but will be un- 
conscious of it. We are influenced by the 
people whom we admire, they are our 
leaders. 

There are people in every church 
whom it is an inspiration to meet, whose 
Christian characters and rich hearts 
warm us, who give us new joy and 
strengthen our faith. Christianity has 
61 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

produced a certain type of admirable 
people. Some of the most precious pic- 
tures that we carry in memory's g-allery 
are of such people. 

The sincere Christian does not go to 
church from a sense of duty. God is not 
pleased with a worshiper who is im- 
pelled by duty. The Christian worker 
who should say: ''I hate to teach that 
class or speak to that unconverted per- 
son, but I suppose it is my duty," would 
be unfit to make the effort. 

People, burdened with sorrow, crushed 
with disappointment and worried with 
the perplexities of life, often enter a 
church in search of a ray from above, 
only to listen to a preacher, fresh from a 
week's idleness, scolding because people 
come short of their duty. And more 
than one listener asks himself: "Am I 
honest in helping: support a church that 
only irritates and abuses?" How different 
from the spirit of the Master, whose in- 
vitation was not, ''Come unto me and I 
will add to your load." 
63 



THE LISTENER'S DUTY 

How to make the services worthy, so 
that the listener mig-ht profit, yea, be 
inspired, ought to be the minister's anxi- 
ety, but unless he is a worker with hu- 
manity this will never occur to him. 

It was not because God saw that men 
came short of their duty that he sent his 
son into the world to demonstrate they 
were sinners. The g"ospel is represented 
in the Bible as a feast, not punishment, a 
gift of God to be taken, not a duty to be 
performed, a power that draws, not some- 
thing* to be driven to. It is the minister's 
opportunity to create desire for more. 
Godliness is the most beautiful thing" in 
the world, but he who wants to force it on 
people makes it appear ugfly and repul- 
sive. 

It is the minister's opportunity to leave 
in the listener's minds a picture of his 
Christian character, his sincere devotion 
to righteousness, his unselfishness and 
anxiety for the prog"ress of the gospel, 
his opportunity to instill joy and inspire 
love for things godly. He may have to 
63 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

sacrifice his desire to talk in order to do 
this. It would be well if the listener 
could go away wishing: that the services 
had been longer, thus creating* a desire 
for more. 

It should be the listener's opportunity 
to be a worker togcether with the minister 
in the cause which they both love; to 
help serve someone; to add to the joy 
of some life. The minister should train 
and encourage the listener to be useful. 

Religious papers of most denominations 
echo the preacher's complaints that 
church people are not doing their duty 
and for that reason there is no progress, 
never saying a word about the preachers, 
the majority of whom oppress their list- 
eners with burdensome church services, 
and indolent lives. Working people 
throughout the country have long since 
tired of religious taskmasters. 

The world is moving forward, getting 

more pleasant and helpful, and the 

preacher who commands and irritates 

his listeners is a;rchaic and un-Christlike. 

64 



THE LISTENER'S DUTY 

It is by a strang-e way of reasoning 
that some preachers arrive at the conclu- 
sion that it is the hearer's duty to be 
deligfhted with a service reg-ardless of 
its quality. The other day a minister 
told me some of his strug-gles in a west- 
ern State where he held several charges, 
and where the people, in his opinion, 
treated him shamefully. I have listened 
to this brother preach; he has a way of 
thundering- out, in a harsh voice, the 
most shallow and commonplace state- 
ments, and keeps this up at great 
length, which requires the utmost 
patience on the part of the listener. 

Another preacher has a habit of being 
in ill humor on Sunday morning, his ser- 
mon is a mixture of gloom and scolding 
and there is nothing in it that suggests 
Christliness, kindness, refinement or 
any of the other higher qualities which 
people expect to meet with in a church 
service. 

Another preacher complains that his 
hearers are inattentive during his long 
65 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

prayers and sermons. But this preach- 
er's prayers are composed of preaching* 
and oratory. Prayer is intended for the 
ear of God. No one should preach to 
God. There is hardly a person but what 
is g'lad to listen to sermons and prayers 
when they are of the right quality. 

Another preacher's sermons are com- 
posed of extremely rambling thoug-hts, 
and a few minutes after he has started 
his audience is all inattention; but that 
does not concern him, he keeps on in the 
same way. He deplores the fact that 
working" people attend places of amuse- 
ment on Sunday and he believes that laws 
ought to be enacted to get somewhat of a 
Puritan Sunday. 

The above examples can be multiplied; 
they all prove that the obstacles of which 
most preachers complain lie within them- 
selves. Christ's method of teaching- was 
in harmony with the God-g-iven laws that 
govern the human mind. The average 
preacher's method is not. 

In almost any work on mental science 
66 



THE LISTENER S DUTY 

one may read statements to this effect. 

'^Functioning of the brain is brought 
about by efforts of attention; compelling 
the brain cells to focus themselves on the 
matter in hand. 

'It is a well known fact that the blood 
vessels of the cortex of the brain are 
flushed and dilated by the presence of 
cheerfulness, and the toning and stimu- 
lating influence is conveyed by the life- 
giving blood and nerve-current to every 
tissue of the body. 

"Pleasant emotions increase the flow of 
gastric juice. The same effect too is 
produced on the bowels so that constipa- 
tion is often due to depressing emotions. 
Emotions are either elevating or depress- 
ing. Elevating emotions have a beneficial 
effect on the mind and bodily function." 

Therefore, when a preacher emphasizes 
that it is man's duty to attend gloomy, 
dismal church seryices, man's instincts, 
the make-up of his mind, convince him to 
the contrary. 

The human mind can be likened to an 
67 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

explorer. Around about him lies a land 
of mystery. He has arrived at this point 
somewhat bewildered and perplexed. 
He looks about for some place where he 
may quench his thirst and rest. 
Show him Christ and it sufficeth him. 



68 



CHAPTER VL 

THINGS GREATER THAN WORDS. 

It is a mistake to believe that preaching" 
always incites to godliness. A man's 
character speaks louder than his words. 
It requires love to incite love. The dis- 
ciples felt well in the company of Christ. 
They were glad when then saw him. 
Oftenest church people are g'lad when 
the preacher g'ets through with his mass 
of words, Christ was not a dealer in 
words. His love, sympathy, kindness 
and humility crop out and have far 
more effect than words. The disciples 
felt that he loved them, loved them to the 
end. They noticed he had compassion 
on the multitude. At the passover he 
told them, out of the fulness of his heart, 
69 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

that he had greatly desired to eat that 
meal with them. In washing- his disciples 
feet a lesson in humility and service was 
taught much better than could be done 
by words. Some of his disciples, after 
spending a night of work at fishing — a 
night of bad luck — are surprised by see- 
ing- Christ on the shore where he had 
built a fire, baked fish and bread and told 
them to come and dine. Christ made no 
mistake in thus inculcating the spirit of 
service and love; but the modern church 
loses its opportunity by becoming cold 
and mechanical For example: the mid- 
week prayer-meeting. Many a preacher 
lecture at that meeting; forgetting: that 
he has before him the same people who 
listened to him twice on Sunday. With a 
longing- desire for spiritual and practical 
results the minister and people should 
meet. To illustrate: arrange the chairs 
in a circle, have the piano in the center 
and commence by singing the best songs 
in the hymn book. After being seated 
the minister and people might talk as 
70 



THINGS GREATER THAN WORDS 

friend to friend about the joy of salvation, 
the spread of the g-ospel and God's good- 
ness. One touch of kindness will do 
more to inspire a member than a thous- 
and lectures. Let there be equality. Let 
everyone have a chance to say a word or 
two. Some time mig-ht be g-iven to short 
prayers and testimonies; but if some talk- 
loving- individual should g"et started with 
no end in sight, let someone g"o and in a 
kindly manner remind him that he is 
taking" the time of someone else and pre- 
venting- them from taking- part. 

One of the g-reatest forces in a man's 
life is the inJluence of his friends. At 
what time does a man receive more en- 
couragement, pleasure and joy than when 
meeting his friends? The averag-e person 
does not g-o to a church where he has no 
friends. And the new convert who fails 
to find friends in the church will soon be 
found elsewhere. Social intercourse, 
friend meeting friend, is one of the at- 
tractions of the averag-e church. And 
yet most of the preachers whom I know 
71 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

believe in discourageing* social inter- 
course at the end of the meeting's because- 
they think it takes away the spirituality 
the sermon produced. A preacher may 
as well go out in his g-arden and take 
away the effect of sunshine on a flower 
by talking to it. The human mind re- 
tains what it once receives; the influence 
of genuine godliness, truth and goodness 
is never lost. I carry in my mind the in- 
fluence of some Christly, true minister. I 
cherish it. I count it among the best joys 
of my life to have listened to him. His 
influence is part of my mental property. 
Often I have heard preachers make 
announcements on this order at the close 
of their evening sermons: ''We shall 
have an after-meeting; those who wish to 
stay will take the forward seats at once; 
those who must go will go out as quickly 
and quietly as possible. Do not stay in 
the aisles and hallway and talk; and on 
your way home speak only about spiri- 
tual things." The preacher in this way 
tries to accomplish by force, that which he 
72 



THINGS GREATER THAN WORDS 

cannot accomplish otherwise, as his ser- 
mon has been without the Christly spirit. 

People are influnced by what they do 
in thought, act and deed. The less act- 
ive a man is in the church and its work, 
the less hold the church has upon him, 
and less is he influenced by it. Preaching 
often is devoid of purpose and power to 
affect minds; but what a man says and 
does himself always affects his being, his 
brain cells and nervous system. To influ- 
ence people ought to be the minister's 
purpose. In order to do this he must 
have learned to work himself. As Russell 
H. Conwell says: "The one secret of life 
and development is not to devise and plan 
but to fall in line with the forces at 
work." To learn the art of doing good 
in a natural way. 

Graduating from a theological seminary 
the preacher often knows less about com- 
mon people and how to work with them 
than he did before going there; and often 
he has no desire in that direction. I have 
known young preachers to keep at their 
73 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

books with all their zeal, after g-etting* a 
pastorate, in order that they mig-ht get 
the title of D. D., while all around 
them human beings were g'oing- down- 
ward without a single effort being- made 
to reach them; nor did they try to make 
the church service worthy of the name. 
We go to church to worship God, but 
most preachers leave the impression that 
they have been worshiping some book 
or paper during the week. The theologi- 
cal seminary ought to interest the 
preacher in something higher than books. 
There is something" about all g^ood 
preachers which makes it a pleasure to 
listen to them, and it was said about the 
greatest of all that the common people 
heard him g-ladly. Not that the preacher 
pleased for the sake of pleasing, but be- 
cause his hearers felt the joy of his soul, 
his unselfishness and sincerity. His 
message was an invitation to the very 
heaven. The true minister makes his 
hearers desire Christ. And the things 
which have the greatest influence on a 
74 



THINGS GREATER THAN WORDS 

man's life are his desires and aspirations. 
People are influenced by facts. Religion 
through the ages, has influenced people 
for the better. Nothing has had so much 
influence for good in the world as Chris- 
tianity. The teaching of the godly quali- 
ties — righteousness, truth, purity and 
holiness — is needed and will always influ- 
ence people. Christianity has produced 
some of the noblest and best people on 
earth. Every time a minister preaches 
he has an opportunity to influence his 
hearers for good, to inspire and en- 
courage and suggest more of the richness 
of the Christian life. Every meeting of 
Christians should be helpful and useful. 
Jesus went about doing good, and even 
on the cross, when suffering indescriable 
he used the time to give kindness to his 
enemies and encouragement to his 
friends. 



75 



CHAPTER VII. 

CONCLUSION. 

He who ignores the Creator' slaws ignores 
God. The worker on minds is not ex- 
empt from obeying" natural laws any- 
more than workers in other departments 
of effort. The fabric of the listener's 
mind, the God-given mind, should con- 
stitute some of the ground work for the 
preacher to build upon. Working peoples' 
minds, after toil and hardship do not need 
irritation and monotony, but joy and 
inspiration. God has so created the 
human mind. The meetings of Christians 
ought to abound in those things which 
make a heaven on earth. Heaven is a 
place of joy, song and well-being. But 
the preacher with a great desire to talk 
76 



CONCLUSION 

has no atmosphere of heaven about him. 
If the worker on minds works rationally, 
sincerely and gfodly, he is bound to 
accomplish results as well as the worker 
in iron and wood. Natural laws are the 
worker's opportunity. Here is a lake to 
cross — build a boat. Here is electricity 
to harness — make a motor. Here is a 
flock of people to influence — let them be 
active. Happiness and well-being" in life 
come from rational and pleasant activity. 
Influence people for good. Encourage, 
inspire, incite good will and good cheer. 
This cannot be accomplished by talking. 
The minister with the Christ-like char- 
acter only will be able to do this. In the 
average church there is too much harass- 
ing, too much one-man power, too much 
tiresome preaching of no consequence, 
too much stagnation. Most preachers 
criticize and complain too much, blaming 
the members for not doing their duty, 
while they themselves, waste most of 
their time during the week doing 
nothing of any practical nature. 
77 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

God has so created the human mind 
that it craves variety in order to retain 
health. A person may go insane by 
focusing- his mind continuously upon one 
thing:. For the Christian v^ho is dead to 
the w^orld and its pleasures, and v^ho seeks 
joy in the church, always to be listening" 
to the preacher's voice is mentally un- 
healthy, and often painful. While nothing* 
can take the place of the sermon, the 
preaching of righteousness in love, more 
variety and the co-operation of the con- 
gregation is necessary. 

If the preacher vs^ants the members of 
his church to be more enthusiastic about 
it and to invite their acquaintances to the 
services the meetings ought to be attract- 
ive and w^orthy. People gladly give of 
their time and money to v^hat they love. 
If the church does not make as much 
progress as the preacher v^ishes he should 
not scold and complain about it, but state 
in a plain, business-like way the con- 
structive program he wishes the church 
to carry out. Working people who spend 
78 



CONCLUSION 

their streng-th every day in labor, crave 
some rest and recreation in their spare 
time, however, most members willg-ladly 
help if the minister would utilize them. 
Many a member or g-roup of members 
would be g-lad to be' responsible for 
advertising- the services if the minister 
would start them. God is exalted by 
good work sincerely done. The preacher 
is a worker, and like workers in other 
fields, he may succeed or fail, it depends 
on how the work is done. Some preach- 
ers do not seem to pay attention to the 
results of their efforts. They do not 
aim to do anything practical. Their ser- 
mons do not inspire and convince. The 
work of the church is to do good. The 
services should benefit the listener. The 
preacher might scrutinize his efforts by 
asking himself: Are the people better for 
it? Does it add to their happines? Does 
it incite to the higher, truer and richer 
life? The preacher might learn by some- 
times trying the listener's part by 

attending church service where he is un- 
79 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

known, and reflect if there is not room 
for improvement. 

The history of successful churches 
everywhere teaches that it is not fine 
church property or money that is needed; 
the right kind of spirit and the right 
kind of work must first be present, and 
then people will gladly support it. 

I have often heard preachers make 
appeals for more hearers, and urge 
the members to be more earnest in 
bringing in the unconverted. Those 
preachers ought to pray for more com- 
mon sense to improve the opportunities 
given them at every meeting. To raise 
the efficiency of the services. Such 
preachers are not workers, and have not 
a clear conception of things, they are 
generally irrational in their methods. 

Many men do not make any mental 
progress after reaching maturity. Often 
the sermons of a preacher of fifty, will be 
no improvement over those he preached 
when twenty-five years younger. He is just 
as mechanical, and fails to strike the sym- 
80 



CONCLUSION 

thetic chord. He does not learn to work 
with common people and to be helpful 
and rational. Most preachers as they 
g-row in years become very fluent in 
speaking. Excessive preaching- tends to 
starve the brain cells and to retard the 
function of the heart of both preacher 
and hearer. 

After working hard during the week 
— perhaps at work which makes the 
world seem dark and dreary — the work- 
ing man is apt to go where his mind can 
meet with some reciprocity, be it but in 
a saloon where he can be a fellow, he 
feels at least the bond of sympathy. Men 
are guided largely by their feelings; 
and crave to feel en rapport with their 
fellowmen. The saloon and kindred 
places are overflowing with this feeling. 
Here is liberty, ease and activity, which 
are necessary for fellowship. Here a man 
mingles with friends, and feels the joy 
of living. He is a part of the life of the 
crowd, a good fellow well met. Here his 
money flows without stint, and here he 
81 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

tarries without looking at the clock. 

The pulpit produces feeling^s of boss- 
ism; the listener is made to feel that he 
is to be a sheep and to be guided and di- 
rected. The tendency of the preacher is to 
become egotistical with a childish desire 
to command. Development and welfare 
in life come from activity; but preaching 
and church service train people in 
silence and inactivity. 

The Christ-like minister would be glad 
to lose himself in the services and have 
the co-operation of the members. He 
would be glad to have them give sug- 
gestions and help in making the services 
more useful. For, to get closer to God 
does not mean to get farther away from 
humanity. To illustrate: have all the 
men possible sing in the choir on a Sun- 
day evening and advertise it as a "men's 
night." Also have a "women's evening," 
with women ushers. Let the choir sing 
a couple of hj^mns after the sermon 
with the congregation remaining seated. 
Before the sermon on Sunday evening 
82 



CONCLUSION 

let ten minutes be used by the congregfa- 
tion in quoting- scripture passages; in 
this time more than twenty-five people 
could take part, and would leave an im- 
pression of the Christian life in the 
hearts of men on the strang-er, perhaps, 
as much as the rest of the service. The 
sermon by the pastor is only the testi- 
mony of one; with twenty-five more tak- 
ing- part it would be twenty-fiye times 
stronger. Most preachers are sting}^ 
with the sing-ing, while it is that which 
produces joy and cheer. People are in- 
fluenced more by what they do than by 
what they are told. Let them be as ac- 
tive as possible. Let them feel that they 
are wanted. Many people stay away from 
church services because they are dis- 
couraged and perplexed. 

Some preachers labor under the mis- 
taken idea that they are not appreciated, 
while the real trouble is they have not 
learned to work with people. Members 
who are the most regular in attending 
the meetings are of tenest those who have 
83 



THE LISTENER IK THE CHURCH 

something- to do, It is unnatural for a 
person to be where he has no part to 
perform. It is the minister's opportu- 
nity to incite the listener to usefulness. 

Some preachers over-emphasize the 
problems of the church by g-etting" nar- 
row ideas from the study of psychology 
and mental science. One preacher said: 
''Peoples' minds differ, some like an 
emotional sermon, others an intellectual, 
others a doctrinal, etc." There are scores 
of ways of appealing* to the human 
mind, and there are no such thing's as 
strictly emotional or strictly intelectual 
minds. Minds differ, but they also have 
much in common. There is something 
everyone likes, and something everyone 
hates. Everyone likes a joy-bringer; 
everyone likes sincerity, likes unselfish- 
ness, likes song and cheer. Everyone 
hates egotism, hates insincerity, hates to 
listen to long prayers and dull or ugly 
sermons. 

The predominant hunger in the human 
mind everywhere is the hunger for the 
84 



CONCLUSION 

beauty of righteousness and truth — the 
hung^er for the beauty of godliness. 

People are easily attracted. Happiness, 
good will, honesty and joy are catching. 
Going away from a meeting where there 
was a lot of song, cheer and the 
Christly spirit, the effect remains with 
the listener permanently. 

The preacher's talk and character 
produce feelings in the listener's mind, 
and feelings produce decisions. A nar- 
row, selfish spirit is repulsive, and where 
it is manifest in a church service many a 
hearer goes away with the resolve, not 
to enter the place again. On the other 
hand, a Christly, unselfish, largeminded, 
manly minister who proclaim the spirit- 
ual truts in firmness and love, will un- 
consciously draw out the best qualities 
in his hearers and develop them into 
helpers. Such a minister is the most use- 
ful and most needed man in the world to- 
day. 

The city that lies on a hill can not be 
hid. If the church has some of the quali- 
85 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

ties of its founder, the people will see and 
feel it. If it deserves success it will suc- 
ceed. But insincerity and indolence 
ougfht to fail. 

The church is needed. The greatest 
wrong-, the one thing that produces the 
most misery and pain in the world, is still 
sin. In the light of eternity, religious 
instruction is of the highest importance. 
People need instruction in righteousness 
and truth, and incitement to holiness. 
The church ought to be the most attract- 
ive and most alive place in the community. 

The church has a monopoly on the 
best things in the world. It is the only 
institution in the community where 
people can meet with teachings which 
are of eternal importance. 

The purpose of religion is to make 
people truer and happier; and the busi- 
ness of the church is to do good. The 
church stands for the highest and best 
in the community — the place where the 
truest thoughts and best impulses are 
born in the minds of men. Christianity 
86 



CONCLUSION 

has produced the best people in the 
world. The character produced by a 
Christian life is far above that produced 
by culture or education. 

One of the charms of church meetings 
is that here people meet with the pur- 
pose to strive after holiness and promul- 
g-ate Christianity. There is something" 
in religious teaching and godly worship 
which appeal to the best people. For 
behind the material in the human mind, 
there is a spiritual existence which needs 
development. 

Therefore the preacher and worker in 
the church should use the noblest and 
best methods — the greatest good for the 
greatest number — and the things w^hich 
prevent the church from doing this can 
be stated in a few sentences: 

The sermons are too lengthy. 

There are no efforts made to improve 
the services or the work of the church. 

Most preachers tend to become isolated 
instead of working with their people. 

Many preachers? wish to become ora- 
87 



THE LISTENER IN THE CHURCH 

tors instead of doing real work, and thus 
become superficial. 

As to the church-members, the average 
working men and women are trying to 
do the best they can, ever willing to work 
and sacrifice for the church and with a 
little inspiration will be willing to do even 
more. My experience has been that I have 
received so much kindness, courtesy and 
inspiration that I will never be able to 
repay it. 

But among the burdens sometimes 
placed on working people is that of hav- 
ing to support a minister who persists 
in using wrong methods; and who, weak 
in faith does not work earnestly, and is 
afraid that theory of evolution, the the- 
atre, saloon and cheap show-house, or any 
other of the lower forces, will overcome 
the greatest power for good, the highest 
and best institution on earth — the church 
of Jesus Christ. 



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